Pre-game preview: No Backstrom for Caps, Mitchell back in lineup, junior hockey legend on scene — and more

NOTE FROM DP: Some of you have noticed the time is finally accurate here at Working the Corners. But by correcting that, the following posting now appears out of order. Bear that in mind as you read the first paragraph as the realignment posting originally appeared before this one. END NOTE FROM DP.

Realignment dispute has serious implications that go beyond which teams are in which conference and how the playoffs are set up, so wanted to get all that new material on the table first.

Now, onto tonight’s game — which, if past meetings between the Sharks and Washington are any indication, should prove to be incredibly entertaining.

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Somewhat surprising news of the morning is that Nicklas Backstrom won’t be in the lineup. Backstrom took a nasty elbow to the head Tuesday by since suspended Calgary forward Rene Borque, but he skated Friday and talk was that Washington’s leading scorer with 42 points would be in the lineup.

Not the case as the Capitals decided to take the more cautious approach in this era of sensitivity to head injuries.

Washington hasn’t won in San Jose since 1993, going 0-10-1 since then. But goalie Tomas Vokoun’s record against the Sharks is an inverted 10-0-1 in his past 11 games so it’s no surprise at all he’ll be in net tonight, facing Antii Niemi.

*****Minor tweak in the Sharks lineup is the apparent return of Torrey Mitchell, with the likelihood of Andrew Murray sitting this one out.

Here’s what Todd McLellan had to say about Mitchell today, after making the right wing a healthy scratch in Thursday night’s 2-1 victory over Columbus:

“I talked to Torrey and he gave me all the answers that I needed. He explained to me what he thought his strengths were as a player and what his assets were that he needed to bring to the table on a nightly basis. It was a pretty simple conversation. I didn’t even need to say anything.

“You have to give him credit for a very good self-evaluation. Sometimes players don’t see it like that. Torrey knew, he could feel it coming. His speed, his energy, his tenacity, the ability to turn over pucks. Every team has a couple of those players that are really quick and they have to have an impact on the game.”

*****McLellan also indicated he’s in no hurry to reunite Douglas Murray and Dan Boyle on the blue line.

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“I don’t think anything’s ever written in stone. He could very easily end up with Dan Boyle again,” McLellan said of Murray. “But Boyler’s game – and it’s in no reflection at all on Cranky – started to come when he got paired with Marc-Edouard Vlasic and we like where both of them are. They play very efficient minutes.

*****While we’re on the blue line, McLellan also praised Justin Braun’s overall work and one element of his game in particular.

“I like him retrieving pucks,” the coach said. “He may be one of the best on our team when the other team is about to get the forecheck going. Whether it’s a simple dump or a rim dump, he does an extremely good job of getting back and making something happen to get us going the other way.”

*****Until today, James Sheppard has steadfastly refused to set a timetable for his return to action after a months-long process to rehabilitate his surgically repaired knee.

But Friday he began practicing with his teammates again and today the former Minnesota Wild No. 1 draft pick said he expected to be playing in the NHL or AHL by March 1.

“To be on the ice and not have knee pain is huge,” Sheppard said, acknowledging he still feels a little here and there when he first gets on the ice.

“But when you get warmed up, when I was skating around laps afterward, I was thinking about skating, I wasn’t thinking about my knee,” he said.

*****A quick historical note. The AP coverage of Boston’s 9-0 victory over Calgary on Thursday night noted that Flames defenseman Chris Butler was a minus-7 — the first player to reach that figure since Doug Wilson on February 19, 1993.

Well, AP got the date wrong — it was February 10, 1993 — but the stat was otherwise correct. The minus-7 came in a 13-1 loss to Calgary during the team’s 17-game losing streak that tied an NHL record.

“It could have been 20-1,” was Wilson’s second response when that game was brought up.

And, no, I won’t share his immediate reaction.

Wilson’s outstanding, 1,024-game NHL career ended with an injury later that month.

*****Junior hockey legend Brian Kilrea — who not only coached Wilson, but also Logan Couture and Jamie McGinn with the Ottawa 67s — was at HP Pavilion for the morning skate and talked briefly with all three. I’m told it’s the first time that Kilrea, 77, is in San Jose — more understandable when you realize he didn’t retire until 2009.

*****If you missed it elsewhere, that third-period collision Thursday night between Douglas Murray and Mark Letestu left the Blue Jackets forward with a broken right hand.

“That’s hockey,” Letestu told the Columbus Dispatch. “You get hit by a big guy and it happens. I must have done it when I put my hand up against the boards to brace myself. I actually didn’t feel it until I got back to the bench. It numbed up and I knew something was wrong.”

He’s expected to miss several weeks.

*****Can’t wrap this up without at least recognizing the fact that Alexander Ovechkin will be on the ice tonight, and as fellow Merc sports writer Mark Emmons detailed in his print edition story this morning, Ovechkin has rediscovered his scoring touch.

“It’s fun,” Boyle said of his previous encounters with Ovechkin. “I enjoy playing against the top guys and I’ve said that before. He sees match-ups every night so it’s nothing new for him. He’s playing real well right now so we’ll have to get the job done defensively.”

And McLellan acknowledged it was a fine balance between paying attention to Ovechkin and not making him too much of the focus.

“When you start to wander a little and focus on one individual, others can do some damage,” McLellan said. “They’ve got a number of superstars and you can’t zero in on one individual, although he is the kingpin there. He is the trigger and makes things happen.”

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

Go Sharks! I had wised the last game was the start of the end of the Urban Legend Experiment, guess not. Tell the boss what he wants to heard and you’re back in the line up. Maybe if I told my boss what they wanted to hear I would get a raise!

SactoShark

No doubt that Mitchell has the ability to turn over pucks…..his last game was his best of the year, why change?

puckace

Sharks vs Capitals: A match up of the two biggest choke jobs in the NHL. Neither team has been able to get over the top. So tonight’s game will be an exercise in hand wringing for each team’s fans. May the team who grips the stick the hardest uphold the fine tradition of losing when it counts the most.

San Jose vs Washington: A match up of two of the best and most exciting teams to watch over the last few years. Superstars, talent, and skill on both sides of the ice. A rare treat for anyone who’s a fan of an ice hockey game with flow as opposed to slow. Let the fireworks begin!

Well I’m off for my second game of the season. I’ll let you all decide what paragraph represents my view

GSGDI!
Whack a Cap!

Beer League

DP, thanks for keeping us informed,
Nice to hear Sheppard is back on the ice. To bad he won’t be back playing before the trade deadline, so that DW would know what he has.

JB

There’s a lot to digest here. Unfortunately I don’t expect this entry to get the usual comment traffic being where it is. A tap of the stick to Beer League for mentioning it in the earlier, er later, er whatever, entry or I likely wouldn’t have noticed.

My guess is that with James Sheppard having missed as much hockey as he as over the past two seasons, it may take a while before he gets back on track. He’s a talented player with a bunch of potential so this is good news.

Probably Mitchell’s response against the Caps will carry more weight that what he said to the coach. Let’s hope he has a good night.

ZooWar

I’m looking forward to the annual Ovechkin/Murray battle.

Beer League

JB, I hope Sheppard isn’t another “urban taco legend”.
Lots of young potential, bad injuries. Waiting to see the potential rise to the surface. And waiting, and waiting, and waiting…….

Dirty

Expectations for a 4th rounder to play like a 1st rounder is pretty rough, me thinks. I’ve never understood what peoples expectations of Mitchell are. Just curious.

JB

Argh! I had to leave the room for a minute in the second period and missed it. So what did Burns do when Brazil was interviewing someone on the bench during a stoppage?

Angel from Texas

JB
He was high sticking Demers

http://asdasgggfdgdfgdfgdfvsd.com Davina Egar

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